I don't like reading, but yet I have the dream of being a writer.

This is a topic that comes up pretty frequently, so I guess you're not alone.

http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=259038

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=283428

http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45271

I'm curious if there are any writers who have experienced literary or commercial success who are not big on reading. For me, I want to write stories because I enjoy reading them, and I want to write the kind of stories I would like to read. But I can't say everyone's the same.

Reading is important because it shows you what you like and what you don't like. So when you are writing you can know how to write what you like - write what you would want to read, yourself. (maybe within reason though).

You're 17. you've got plenty of time. In a year, you'll be a different person in a lot of ways, and in ten you will be even more different as a person. You're still figuring yourself out, finding out what you like, what you hate, what you love. Don't worry too much. Keep looking for books that might be what you like.

There are a lot of books out there that I don't like reading, and that I find pretty boring. There are also a lot of books out there that I love reading over and over again.

I also don't read A LOT but I do pick up a book occasionally. Don't always finish them but I take what I've read and try to use it to better my own writing. I agree with everyone though.

Reading makes the writer. It exercises the mind and even if you don't thoroughly pick through a book for lessons on how to write it will unconsciously improve your skills. Don't force yourself though. if you don't feel like reading, you don't have to. It is as simple as that.

Do crosswords, learn new words, research writing styles and pov's. That should really help but reading is just the easiest and best way to improve.

xYinxx said:

Tried reading a book, but I just don't feel motivated to finish it. I don't know why, but I just don't. I feel that being a good writer if you don't like reading is an impossible feat.

I originally took a short break from writing, and I have recently written something and have a current story that I want to work on. However, don't writing and reading need to go together? Is there no other way to become good at this craft?

Furthermore, I used to like reading when I was younger. Now I'm a bit older, and my parents think I probably don't have an interest in reading right now. Which could be true.

So...what could I do? Should I just not bother practicing the craft if I don't like to read?

Thanks in advance.

Click to expand...

I think you just need to pick up lots and lots of different books, until you find one that grabs you.

Yes they go together. Steven King says "if you don't have time to read, you don't have time to write."

I understand being your age and a lot of books aren't interesting because they don't speak to your life experience in any way. Keep looking and searching and you'll find some you love.

If you really don't enjoy reading books. you will never be a good writer.

The End.

caw

xYinxx said:

Thanks, everyone. The book in question is Mistborn: The Well of Ascension. For some reason, I just couldn't get drawn into Sanderson's work like I did with the first Mistborn book. I've heard before that Sanderson's second Mistborn book wasn't as good as the first, and I guess that might be true.

The other book I picked up with Mistborn was The Way of the Shadows. Haven't really dived into that one, is it worth it to stick with it?

Click to expand...

WoA had a different tone than the first Mistborn - the gears shift from the idealism and excitement of the revolution to the problems of holding on to what they've won (and figuring out the greater threat they may have unwittingly exposed everyone to.) It's also the middle book of a trilogy, and middle books often feel a little betwixt and between. So if it's not grabbing you right now, go ahead and set it aside, but don't rule out coming back to it later.

As for whether the other book is worth sticking with... I think only you can answer that, as your tastes are your own. Give it at least a few chapters. If it's not keeping you reading, try to figure out why, and make a note of it so you don't do that in your writing. But don't give up on trying new books altogether just because you hit a few duds.

I was an English major, and didn't like half of what I had to read. The half I did like was awesome. Find what you do like, and read it. Go read Orwell and Bradbury, and then decide if you are a "reader."

The good thing about writing is you can always do it however you want and don't need permission. I had many flash pieces published before I got around to reading many of them. Who knows, maybe I actually brought a freshness to it from not knowing all that came before, in spite of the usual advice. There are always exceptions. If you feel like writing and not reading, go for it. It's only one story, you can always change direction.

Maybe try some short SF or F. There are a ton of magazines that have free online subscriptions. Daily SF (specializes in short pieces) delivers them to your e-mail inbox. So do Beneath Ceaseless Skies and Strange Horizons. Short stories don't require the same time commitment, either to read or to write, and they can be a great way of exposing yourself to (and practicing) different styles of writing you might not like in a full-length novel.

There are plenty of novelists who never wrote a short fiction before publishing their first novel. But there are plenty of novelists who did too. And reading short fiction can teach you a lot about the basics of efficient plotting and storytelling.

It's normal to not enjoy everything you read. In fact, I hear a lot of voracious readers talk about books they're having a hard time getting through, probably because they read so many books, they're more likely to stumble upon ones they don't like.

So keep trying. Experiment. Try different things. And when you don't like a book, try to think about what contributed to that.

Your age could be a factor. Our tastes change sometimes, and I think that can happen even more when you're younger. Also, if you're used to reading a lot of manga, it's possible that reading novels is an adjustment. For me, reading can be like a muscle--if I don't do it often, it becomes more tedious and challenging for me. I already have trouble with my attention span and ability to focus, and I got out of the habit of reading for pleasure when I was in college. After I graduated, it took some time for me to get back into reading. I read a lot of comic books and graphic novels because, with their less text-dense format, I found them easier and less daunting to read. I also like reading short fiction for the same reason.

I also feel that appreciating written stories and the actual act of reading can be two different things, sometimes. Because of the aforementioned attention span problems, sometimes I find the act of reading difficult or not very fun. I also encounter books that I just have a hard time reading because of the style. But I often keep going because I'm interested in the story and the characters, and I want to see how things unfold (though, if I'm really having issues with a book, occasionally I'll skim it or consult Wikipedia to see what happens). Though reading can be relaxing, it can also be challenging sometimes. It's a mentally engaging activity.

Not to be rude or harsh, and no, that isn't an excuse for any unmeant harshness to follow. But if you don't mind my asking, why do you want to write a novel so badly if reading them doesn't interest you?

I'm always reading, and for me that translates into a love of writing.I go through cycles where I will read only original work, where I read only fanfiction, and where I read both. No matter what, though, I am always reading something. Be it a a slew of drabble length fanfics, short story fanfics, original shorts, long fanfics and original work etc. I am reading. Sure I avoid things like omegaverse like the plague when reading fanfic, but there's more out there than omegaverse stuff. If I didn't like ANY fanfic on the other hand, I wouldn't dare write it. It would be illogical to write something I don't personally enjoy or to think I'm better than all those fanfic writing hacks out there.

Likewise I read original stuff because I enjoy it and avoid the things I obviously don't enjoy. You said that your prefered genre is YA Fantasy, are we talking standard type of psuedo-Medieval Fantasy or something more like Urban/Contemporary Fantasy? From the books you've talked about reading recently, it seems you may have to widen your scope of what fantasy is. Maybe read some adult fantasy of various subgenres, or at least explore other forms of YA Fantasy. Heck, maybe even branch out into SF and Horror. SFFH is part of a genre family called Speculative Fiction, and if that doesn't work try more contemporary stories. Being only a few months shy of 24, I have to say that this is likely just a phase. In the past 6 years, I've changed a lot. My basic taste is the same, but now I have subject matter I no longer read in either fanfiction or original works. My taste has evolved away from those things, and I'm just now starting to incorperate properly done stories with the offensive subject matter included back into my reading diet. I've gone from devouring everything in site, to being more selective.

You may just be entering your extra picky phase, so don't give up on reading completely. But to answer your core question, it is a one in a million shot that you're one of the few people in the world able to write extremely well depite not liking reading. It can happen, anything is possible in theory. Only, this is one of those extremely super unlikely possibilities. I wouldn't bet on it.

I don't read a lot in the sense of reading books. I read a lot of short stories because those fit better for my attention span. I also try to look for books that really make me want to finish them. I loved the Maze Runner because it was so action packed, and I couldn't put it down. I loved Matt Ruff's Bad Monkeys because it was so intriguing from page one, and I couldn't put it down. I love almost anything Stephen King writes because his words capture me entirely, and I don't get anxious while reading his words.

For people who have trouble concentrating, reading can be off putting because it requires just that, concentration and patience. One of my friends said that it helped her when she started reading everything on Kindle and couldn't see how big the book was and how much she still had to read.

Read widely and find the books that interest you. You can't know if you like reading based on a few books. If you have a yearning for writing there is something about words that intrigue you, and it means that there will be books that make you want to finish them.

It sometimes takes me two years to finish a book. Then it can take me two days to finish another. Both can be excellent, but I just have a different approach to them, and can't push myself to read the other one any faster. I'm usually reading four or five books at the same time because I can't concentrate on one only.

You'll learn to know what suits you if you keep looking for the right way.

Sometimes people don't like reading because they haven't found anything which they enjoy or interests them. My son-in-law was not a 'big reader' until he discovered he liked reading about ebola, the influenza epidemics, smallpox, and the like. He reads both non-fiction and fiction on these topics. He also likes horror novels. He's now 31, but read very little as a child or younger person. Now he's always got a book going.

I taught science for 35 years and I ran into many kids, boys more than girls, who 'hated reading.' On the first day of school, in my honors-level class, I'd always say, well you got into Honors Science because you MUST love to read. That's more important than loving science or owning a microscope or building robots. Of course most the kids would nod approvingly; a few would look at me like I had six heads. But those 'non-readers' often had not 'found' the books they wanted to read. Many boys, after first reading King - who their parents might disapprove of - would be turned onto reading. Or they'd find they loved 'war novels' or fantasy or scifi. Some boys liked anime or comic books. (Imagine being the child of two parents who scorn any of these genres? Yeah, it happens. No comics in my house! One parent would claim, or I don't approve of his reading fantasy. I heard it many a time.)

So sometimes it's just a matter of finding what you personally like, or find worth reading.

Don't ever let anyone tell you what you have to do. Do things your way if you want. You've got that right and are entitled to the pursuit of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness so long as you are in the USA. If not that may not be a given and you may have to do as you are told whether you like it or not. Example to follow...

You will Obey Me ! Got it ?!

Yes sir. :-(

You might try audio books from the library or a used book store. I finished most of the classics I disliked(Moby Dick) this way. You can find a genre you like this way. Audio books are especially good if you read slower than your mind moves.

+1 on trying horror
+1 on non-fiction

just my .02

redfalcon said:

You might try audio books from the library or a used book store. I finished most of the classics I disliked(Moby Dick) this way. You can find a genre you like this way. Audio books are especially good if you read slower than your mind moves.

+1 on trying horror
+1 on non-fiction

just my .02

Click to expand...

Following up on this, you can also give Audible a try. Their app is quite nice and lets you change the speed on the books up to 3X. (Some narrators do an awesome job, but they're painfully slow.)

This is very confusing. You're having a crisis over whether you can be a good writer or not based on whether or not you can finish a specific book?

I've dropped tons of books that don't interest me. A lot of AWers, especially older AWers will say you can't waste life on books you don't like. Not everything is going to interest you. If I had to finish every book I started to be a good writer... eeesh.

xYinxx said:

Thanks! I'm actually 17 years old. Do you think that has something to do with it?
.

Click to expand...

I do. When you're younger, it's harder to connect with a lot of books because your life experience is somewhat limited, so a lot of books you might pick up, you leaf through them and you're not connecting with any of the subject matter, so you think- boring.

But read the first page of many books, and you'll eventually come across that first page that really grabs you because it connects with some important emotions or interests you may have.

xYinxx said:

It's because it's an outlet for my creativity where I can create characters and worlds. That's why I want to write stories.

I just don't see the point of forcing myself to read if it's a chore/doesn't come naturally. I also guess that laziness comes into the picture too.

Click to expand...

May I suggest reading fanfiction, then? The entire year from 18 to 19, I had absolutely zero interest in reading original work. Instead I read fanfics, though it's only been the past year that I've taken up writing them as well as reading them. It has given me an escape where the pressures are different, and I've honed things a bit from it as well. Now I try to balance things, I write fanfic or original stuff as the mood strikes me.

One of the benefits of fanfic is that most stories are likely to be be either short stories or novella length. Over half of them are in fact, with the rest being full novel length works.

xYinxx said:

It's because it's an outlet for my creativity where I can create characters and worlds. That's why I want to write stories.

I just don't see the point of forcing myself to read if it's a chore/doesn't come naturally. I also guess that laziness comes into the picture too.

Click to expand...

I'd suggest the point was probably this which you suggested in your first post was a goal:

xYinxx said:

However, don't writing and reading need to go together? Is there no other way to become good at this craft?

Click to expand...

I don't think any writer becomes good at their craft by avoiding reading and anything that smacks of work. So you make a choice of what's most important to you. You can write without reading. Nobody will stop you. But it would be disingenuous for many writers on this board who have spent a lot of time and effort to improve their writing, and who thus know how much it takes, to tell you that it doesn't take anything at all to be a good writer outside of wanting it and that you can avoid reading and simultaneously become a brilliant author.

If you're only concerned because you have trouble finishing a book now and again, I'd hardly take that as an indication that you don't like reading. I abandon books all the time. Life is too short to finish something that doesn't hold my interest.

We all have our own taste, and there are plenty of books that come highly recommended that just didn't grab me. Wheel of Time is a well-loved fantasy classic, and I love fantasy. But I could not get into it. I liked the Mistborn trilogy, but there are plenty of other popular fantasy novels that aren't for me. And some that I like that aren't popular with everyone I know.

If there are books you do like, think about what it is about them that pulled you in.